A number of significant factors have combined leading to the current debilitating levels of corruption in the country. Since the decade of 70s the political executive is not countered with any checks and balances, and had unbridled authority without effective over-sight.Besides the civil services allowed themselves to be infiltrated and dominated and now silenced by the political class, who used all possible allurements for their ends. Contrary to the practice the world over, the main weapon against corruption-swift, exemplary, deterrent punishment is almost absent in India, while investigating and prosecuting agencies need to share a large part of the blame, our judiciary has not asserted themselves enough to contribute to a clean system. Such a situation is boundto yield space to the like of movements being launched by civil society. - Reproduced.